Conversations between residents and their loved ones are a little more comfortable at a long-term care home in Chatham thanks to the hard work of a local 16-year-old.
Jonny Vanek, whose mom is the Director of Care at Meadow Park in Chatham, has built two "conversation stations" so that residents can connect with their friends and family members in a safe, but special place on the home's patio outside.
"My mom got a picture off of Facebook from another nursing home and she said, 'Do you want to try making this?'" said Vanek. "So, I got the material and made it."
Vanek is a Grade 11 student at Lambton-Kent Composite School and would have been taking a woodworking course at the school this summer.
A Facebook post from the Jarlette Health Services, which cares for more than 1,600 residents at 20 Retirement and Long Term Care Homes throughout Ontario -- including Meadow Park, said Jonny has "earned an A+ in their books" adding that they are now working on scheduling face-to-face visits on the patio in the coming weeks.
Up until this time, the residents at Meadow Park had been connecting with loved ones during the pandemic through virtual and window visits along with phone calls.
Physical touch between the residents and their visitors will still be off-limits, but plenty of "air hugs" are still expected to take place.
Ontario also recently announced that it will be lifting visitor restrictions at long-term care homes, retirement homes and other residential care settings, effective June 18.
Visits to the facilities have been restricted since mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All visitors will still need to pass a screening every time they visit and confirm that they have tested negative for COVID-19 within the previous two weeks.